On July 1, 2005 the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance entered into force. The code is part of Stockholmsbörsen’s listing requirements and applies to companies on the former A-list and those on the O-list with a market capitalization over SEK 3 billion.
Although Cision does not belong in a formal sense to the group of companies included in the initial introduction of the code, its goal is to comply with applicable sections of the code and its guidelines and self-regulation principles. A revised version of the code will apply as of July 1, 2008 to all companies listed on Stockholmsbörsen and NGM Equity.
In 2007 Cision identified deviations with the code in its current form and drafted a plan to adapt to the code in 2008. This text on corporate governance practices has not been reviewed by the company’s auditors.
Responsibility for management and control of Cision is divided between the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors, committees and the President, according to external rules and internal policies, the Companies Act, other laws, regulations and current rules for listed companies, the Articles of Association, the Board’s rules of procedure and instruction for the President as well as policies laid down by the Board.
External rules
- Companies Act
- Annual Accounts Act
- Swedish Code of Corporate Governance
- Stockholmsbörsen’s listing agreement
- EU Transparency Directive
Internal rules
- Articles of Association
- Board’s rules of procedure
- Instruction for audit and compensation committees
- Instruction for the President
- Internal policies
Ownership structure
Cision’s largest shareholders are institutional investors. As of year-end 2007 Swedish institutional investors owned 47 percent of the share capital. Foreign investors owned 44 percent of the share capital. The ten largest shareholders in total held 53 percent of the share capital. There were 16,959 shareholders.